CHEF GRAZIANO DUCA AT THE GRAND HOTEL BRISTOL RESORT & SPA IN THE GULF OF TIGULLIO
I have been working for twenty years, and now I have been at the Grand Hotel Bristol Resort & Spa for almost eight years, because my passion has always been the sea, both as a place and a base for my dishes. Over these eight years, we have managed to bring Le Cupole and the hotel’s other restaurants to an excellent level, from breakfast to lunch at the Bistrot.
Graziano Duca
Tradition has remained a fundamental element in my offer, the kitchen equipment has been changed and the techniques and cooking methods have evolved. I like to rediscover evergreen dishes like Cima alla Genovese or the classic Vitello tonnato which are revisited and reinterpreted with modern techniques, becoming exquisite dishes, the perfect mix between tradition and modernity.
The diversity of the clientele is an important aspect to consider; the Grand Hotel Bristol & Spa is mostly frequented by international customers. Therefore, my cuisine will offer dishes with traditional tastes always trying to balance the particular and different flavors of a foreign clientele.
The Chef
There’s no doubt that technique and equipment are key to processing fish – you select large fish about twenty or thirty kilos – and blast them down at -36 degrees, using the proper techniques I have studied and using sea water to keep them fresh and savory.
The Chef

For some time, I have been approaching the method of aging fish which I really enjoy and which could become a characteristic of the proposal of the restaurant Le Cupole. Some customers have already tried this proposal and their taste buds have been extremely pleased. Technically, it is a method like that of the meat. Obviously, the result on fish of certain sizes – swordfish, croaker, tuna – is a greater flavor and something particular that remains quite unknown, but that changes the taste of the fish a lot, enhancing also prestigious fish like grouper.
My experiments are in line with the taste of the customer. The result is 50% given by my professionalism and that of my brigade and 50% by the customer.